It was a picture-perfect South Florida morning with a nice breeze coming in off the ocean. For the third straight year, I completed the race in 44:04 – just over my 43 minute goal. I carried our beloved American flag as an inspiration for all. See picture here.

I want to wish my Jewish brothers and sisters, here and abroad, “L’Shanah Tovah Tikatevu” and pray you had a joyous Rosh Hashanah leading to Yom Kippur.

It has been a whirlwind week. I am pleased to say both the current Chairwoman of the Democrat National Committee and the Vice President have clearly stated, “that we [the Democrats] own the economy.”

I am delighted they are finally admitting what I and the remaining 53% of us ‘fair share-paying” Americans understand: we need to begin reducing the shovel-ready pile of fiscal mess which the liberals are building.

We have a growing debt of $14.6 trilliion, which is not far off double the $8.6 trillion in 2007 when the Democrats took over the House of Representatives and United States Senate.

Not only that, when I gaze upon Mount Debtmore, I find myself becoming rather queasy. It is troubling to me that even as we have built this seemingly insurmountable fiscal morass, there are those who truly believe yet another $447 billion “mini-me” stimulus is the answer.

I am worried that we could possibly be the first generation of Americans to leave less to our children and grandchildren than previous generations.

My stomach turns realizing there are those who truly embrace a philosophy that says government creates jobs and wealth — a failed premise.

Now, my liberal friends are going to say it is all George W. Bush’s fault…however, in eight years, President Bush’s biggest annual deficit was $500 billion in 2008.

In three years under President Barack Obama, we have had deficits of $1.42 trillion, $1.29 trillion, and an estimated $1.5 trillion for 2011- which ended just a couple days ago.

Yes, big government-spending Republicans started us down this road as we offered tax cuts, but grew the federal government. But any reasonable person must confront the truth that a bad situation has been exacerbated to a level of epic proportions, and that makes me sick and should make most Americans sick as well.

Americans are not soft and we are not a “nation of cowards.” Americans are a proud, hard-working, and resilient people who, through our entrepreneurial spirit and determination, have overcome countless obstacles. We are a nation of victors, not victims, and when we have leadership in America that seeks to empower us through encouragement, not enslave us through regulatory obedience,our greatest days lie ahead, not behind.

Next, I want to bid farewell to two traitors who got their proper punishment, Mr. al-Awlaki and Mr. Samir Khan. There are those, to include a couple of GOP Presidential candidates, who believe these dangerous men should have been brought back to the United States for due process. They did get due process- by way of an American Hellfire missile.

Let me be straightforward, any American who decides to become a non-state, non-uniform belligerent on this 21st Century Battlefield and incite insurrection and death upon Americans from a foreign land, deserves a one way ticket to Hell.

We must send a message to radical Islamic terrorists that an attempt to foment homegrown Jihad in America shall not be tolerated. If we need to change laws, then we in the United States Congress should go about doing so. However, I applaud President Barack Obama for placing these enemies on a “Kill or Capture” list and agreeing to the former rather than the latter.

My humble admonition to President Obama is simple, do as President Bill Clinton did- and pivot. Stop doubling down on the divisive rhetoric which threatens our union.

I will not compromise my pragmatic Constitutional conservative principles to anyone who embraces a belief that is anathema to securing our fiscal and national security.

In conclusion, this past week in South Florida we bid farewell to two stellar Floridians: former Governor Claude Kirk and former Broward County Sheriff Nick Navarro. Both of these gentlemen, and I truly mean gentlemen, were very inspirational and encouraging to me in my transition to public service from a military uniform to a suit and tie. May God bring peace to their families.

We shall truly miss them and may God welcome them with open arms and keep the family members who shall carry on their legacy and memory with ”fair winds and following seas.”